Message from RIKEN President Hiroshi Matsumoto

摘要

It is a pleasure to have Science and Technology in Japan cover RIKEN's centennial celebrations in this special issue. Fiscal year 2017, which marks the hundredth year since RIKEN's establishment in 1917, began with a large gathering in Tokyo, in the presence of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, where we brought together people who have supported RIKEN over the years to listen to a series of lectures, including one on the future of the institute, and then have a chance to network and strengthen their mutual ties. Later in the year, we held a series of events-one in West Japan and the other in East Japan-to give RIKEN personnel a chance to celebrate the centennial by visits to laboratories, listening to lectures, and networking. In other developments, we put together a massive history of the institute, incorporating 1,500 pages spread over three volumes, that helped us look back at our past and look toward the next hundred years. And in connection with the future, we also established a number of time capsules that will preserve parts of RIKEN from 2017 for people a hundred years from now.